American Life Expectancy Drops for Second Straight Year

Life expectancy dropped to 78.6 in 2016, down from 78.8 in 2015 and 78.9 in 2014.

The life expectancy for Americans dropped in 2016 for the second consecutive year, according to new data published on Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics. Life expectancy last year dropped to 78.6 from 78.8 in 2015 and 78.9 in 2014. The 10 leading causes of death last year were heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, chronic lower respiratory diseases, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, kidney disease and suicide. Deaths from drug overdoses also increased last year: More than 63,600 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2016. The rate of overdose deaths was 21 percent higher than in 2015.